The present invention relates to an infant warming apparatus and, more particularly, to an apparatus for providing the combined functions of an infant incubator and an infant warmer and which includes a radiant heater contained within a housing having a doors that are operable to automatically open and close in accordance with a mechanism.
There are, of course, many devices or apparatus for the warming of an infant and to supply the necessary heat to maintain the infant at a predetermined temperature. Of the various apparatus, there are infant warmers that are basically planar surfaces on which the infant is positioned and which planar surfaces generally include side guards to keep the infant safely within the confines of the apparatus. Infant warmers normally have an overhead radiant heater that is located above the infant and which thus radiates energy in the infrared spectrum to impinge upon the infant to maintain the infant at a warm, predetermined temperature. Since the infant is otherwise totally exposed to the surroundings, there is almost unlimited access to the infant by the attending personnel to perform various procedures on that infant. At typical infant warmer is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,517 of Falk et al as prior art to that patent.
There are also infant incubators and which are more confined enclosures that contain the infant within an enclosed controlled atmosphere in an infant compartment that provides heat to the infant and also may provide control of humidity in the enclosed environment. Such incubators maintain the infant for long periods of time and include handholes to access the infant and/or there is normally a larger access door that can be opened to access the infant or to insert or remove the infant to and from the incubator. Such devices provide a good atmosphere to the infant and control that local environment within which the infant is located, however, it is sometime difficult to perform a wide variety of procedures on the infant due to the somewhat limited access to that infant. A typical infant incubator is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,824 of Koch et al.
At the present, there are also certain infant care apparatus that combine the functions of an infant warmer and an incubator. One such apparatus is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,453,077 of Donnelly et al and which has an overhead canopy including an infrared heater and the canopy and heater are raisable and lowerable with respect to an infant positioned in the apparatus. Therefore, the device can operate as an incubator when the canopy and heater are in the lowered position and can act as an infant warmer when the canopy and the heater are in the upper position.
One difficulty, however, is in the raising and lowering of the heater. It is important to insure that the infant as well as the attending personnel are not subjected to the possibility of touching any of the heated surfaces of the heater or components that are warmed by contact or close proximity to that heater. In addition, it is also important that radiant energy from the various heated surfaces connected with the heater, as well as convective heat not continue to be emitted from those surfaces when the heater is in close proximity to the infant. As such, therefore it is advantageous that the heater be lowered fairly rapidly when the user decides to convert the operation from that of an infant warmer to that of an infant incubator and where the heater is lowered to the incubator position in close proximity to the infant. The heater itself takes a certain period of time to cool down and normal lowering of the heater does not afford sufficient time for that cool-down to take place.
Accordingly, when the heater is lowered, there are still surfaces of the heater and its housing that are hot spots and which continue to radiate heat that is focused in the direction of the infant only at that point, the heater is located at a close proximity to the infant. Thus those hot spots can cause localized heated areas of the infant and the effect potentially harmful to the infant. It is therefore, important that some means be provided to prevent those surfaces from radiating to the infant or from being inadvertent touched by the infant or any of the attending personnel.
As a further difficulty, there may be other openings in the housing containing the radiant heater that suffer from the same infirmity, that is, when the radiant heater canopy is lowered to a position in close proximity to the personnel using the infant warming apparatus, there is a possibility of inadvertent touching of the warmed components of the radiant heater and its surrounding surfaces. Such additional openings may be vent openings that are generally needed to prevent overheating of the radiant heater and are, thus, of necessity, require to be open when the heater canopy is in it upper position and the radiant heater is energized but can pose a hazard if left open when in the lower position accessible by personnel.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to an infant care apparatus that combines the functions of an infant care warmer and an incubator but in addition, has a door or doors that can close when the canopy including the radiant heater is lowered toward the infant and open when the canopy and heater are again raised to the upper position.
Thus, the heater itself as well as the surrounding housing adjacent surfaces that are heated by the conduction from the radiant heater are concealed from the user and the infant when in its lower position and the doors thus block further radiant heat and convective heat from reaching the infant. By use of the present invention, that closed status is automatically achieved by the mechanism as the heater canopy progresses from its upper position to its lower position and the door or doors are safely closed without some reminder or action on the part of a user. In reverse, as the heater is raised when the user desires the apparatus to be used as a radiant infant warmer, the door or doors automatically open so that the heater can be energized to direct radiant infrared energy to impinge upon the infant. Again, the operation of the mechanism is automatic and needs no action on the part of a user other than to indicate to the infant warming apparatus what warmer position is desired at the time.
In the preferred embodiment, there are two doors that open and close to contain the heater as with only one door, it is possible in a failure mode, that if the door does not close upon reaching its lower position, the door has sufficient width that it may actually touch the infant. With two doors, each door is reduced in width such that the danger of the door touching the infant in the lower position is eliminated.
As a further refinement, a mechanism is provided that is a mechanical system that opens and closes the doors as the heater moves, respectively, to the upper position and to the lower position.
It is preferred, that the actual opening and closing take place at or near the upper position. It is preferable that the mechanism operate such that the doors open and close at a point within no more than about 12 inches from the upper position, and more preferably 6-8 inches. In that manner, there is some assurance that the door does not open as the heater canopy is moving upwards until the heater canopy has reached almost to its upper position so that the doors do not open to present a hazard at a low position where the heater could still be within the reach of the infant or other persons. More importantly, the heater doors close immediately upon being lowered, again within 6-8 inches and thus insures that the doors are fully closed before the heater can reach any lower height where it could be reached by the infant and the attending personnel.
As a further feature of the operation of the invention, there is a vent opening in the heater housing that allows the natural convective circulation of air to when the radiant heater is activated. In such manner, the convective cooling prevents the heater from overheating within the heater housing. While that is an important function, to allow the cooling, when the radiant heater is activated, the presence of vent opening it the open position can also be a hazard without some protection when the heater canopy is in its lower position.
Accordingly, in accordance with the present invention, a vent flap is provided that opens and closes the vent opening so that the vent flap, at the lower position of the heater canopy, effectively closes the vent opening so that the internal components of the heater housing cannot be reached by persons in proximity to the infant warming apparatus. Again, the opening and closing of the vent flap is automatic and operates without any action on the part of the user. As the heater canopy is lowered, the vent flap automatically closes in a positive manner and, conversely, as the heater canopy is raised, the vent flap opens so that the natural convective flow of cooling air is available wherever the radiant heater is activated.
Thus, as safety features, both the vent flap is biased toward its open, or safest position, while the doors protecting the heater are biased toward their closed position, again, the safest position of the doors in the even of a failure of any one or more of the actuating mechanisms.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent during the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings herein.